Update!

See, the problem with me posting to this blog as I write is that when I move the story in a different direction, or add something new in, any readers (if there are any) become lost and confused.
So we are clear on everything for the next couple of chapters, here are some things that you as the reader should know, but probably don't, because the information was not included in the previous chapters like it would have been if, say, you were reading a second draft instead a first draft:

• Chantel, Amy and Cara match -- they have the same side-swept bangs and typically dress in very matchy clothing
• Jake does not know about the whole Amy thing that Annika went through (actually you should know this) but he seems to know her well otherwise, to the point where she sometimes wonders whether she'd already told him something or if he's seen her file
• As Annika has fought to regain her status and friendship with Amy, she's lost her creativity *note: this is a major change! This means that her dress was probably also navy and black, her shoes the same as everyone else, etc. She kind of came to realize that the thing that originally was liked for (not wearing the trends the way everyone else does) was something that was keeping her from being with the "in" crowd
• Have you noticed how perfect the relationship between Jake and Annika is? You should have, that I have been trying to show
• Annika is a little obsessed with Amy, Chantel and Cara 

I would love to hear whether any of this you already knew or not (most of it I don't expect, cause I did decide to add it in later). I would also love to hear of what you think about Annika and Jake's relationship: do you think it's perfect? Do you find it at all odd/unrealistic or do you think they are just well paired? 
Anyways, if I think of anything else you should know, I'll let you know, otherwise, expect a new chapter section soon!

Annika McCalden

Here is a picture of my main character, Annika McCalden.
Friend Annika on Facebook! Her Profile
Thanks so so much Jasmine Kanter, the artist and a very good friend of mine!
<3

Chapter 24 (post one)

Pre-note: Here's the next section. I know it's slow and is a filler basically to give information, but it's information you need, so read on...

Chapter twenty-four, section one:

“Congratulations,” Cara said to me, sipping a raspberry gingerale and watching Amy and Tyler sway back in forth, his arms wrapped around her waist. “You may just be the first girl ever to get reinvited back into our group of friends.”

My face lit into a smile as my hips swayed to the slow song. Standing on the edge of the dance floor, watching the crowd of paired teens, I could see Lulu dancing with one of the football players she’d been talking to earlier, her eyes closed and his hands conservatively high on her back, and Ella’s head on the shoulder of a redhead.

There was beeping noise and Cara pulled her pink cell phone from one of the large pockets on her black dress. Her eyes skimmed the message before she said with a grin, “You’re back in.”

“Really? How do you know?”

Cara held up the phone. “Amy says so.”

I took the phone from her, reading the glowing screen.

Message fr: Amy

To: Chantel, Ella, Cara

NW back in. Someone invite her to lunch tomorrow. Thx

I passed Cara back her phone. “I’d love to join you for lunch tomorrow.”

Chapter 23 (post four)

Pre-read note: Hello again! I know you've mis1sed me, and no promises I'm going back to steady posting, but I'm here now (I sound like GG, I will stop that lol) So here's the next post! This was the section I was struggling with, because I didn't know what was going to happen. I was going to have some sort of drama with alcohol or something, but I didn't know what. So I avoided writing it for weeks. Then forty-five minutes ago I just started writing whatever popped into my head, and this is where that got me! So it's not as dramatic as planned, nor probably as well-written as I want it to be, hey, I finally got over this bit of writer's block! Also, since reading week begins for me at 8pm tomorrow night, I might have some time to post some more in the near future.

Enjoy! :)

Chapter twenty-three, pg 71, section four:

The lawn was strung with a million little white lights, creating the illusion of a full starry night. The music pounded through the crowd of girls and guys, moving together across the grass. Celebratory blue streamers hung in the tree branches and a banner hung across the building, crying out, “CONGRATULATIONS WEST END SECONDARY SCHOOL!”

So far I hadn’t spotted 68, or rather Tyler, but that didn’t surprise me, since the football players had been crowded by students all afternoon and night. Their victory was being praised by even teachers, and Tyler had scored the last touch-down. I’d managed to easily keep an eye on Amy and her group, though, since Amy was the only other colourful dress in the crowd of black and navy. I’d already heard her large flower-printed blue dress had been custom-order from Sunrise, not supposed to be released until next month. I also noticed that when I caught her eye, she seemed to return my smile with a glare.

“New Wings!” someone called and I turned around. 

Tyler came up to me, dressed in a clean football uniform, followed by a matching entourage. His hair was still a little wet and messy, like he’d just walked out of the shower, and we boasting an ear to ear smile.

“Hey!” I grinned, “Congratulations on that touch down!”

“Thanks!”

Three guys gathered around, each sporting their own cocky grin and football-buff arms. Just as I was about to ask Tyler about Amy, Lulu came up behind me.

“New Wings!” She glided into our circle in her black dress and black heels, “Who are your friends?”

She smiled as each of the guys introduced themselves, their names slipping in my one ear and out the other, but Lulu seemed more than engaged. I managed to catch Tyler’s eye for a minute, and he followed me as I headed for the table set with blue flowers and drinks.

“Have you seen Amy yet?” I asked as I grabbed two cans of pop, offering one to him.

He took it with a nod. “I saw her on the dance floor. She’s hard to miss in that dress.”

“Have you danced with her?”

“No, but relax, I will.”

I tried to smile, “Sorry, it’s just stressing me out.”

“Don’t apologize, c’mon, lighten up.” His arm brushed against mine as he smiled, “We won; we should be celebrating.”

Again I forced a smile, but I think he could tell, ‘cause he seemed to almost laugh at me.

“Here,” he said, taking my unopened pop from my hand and placing it down with his on the table, “Come dance me.”

With that he took my hand and was leading me towards the dance floor before I could say a word. The music was a steady pop beat that made me move, even though at first I fought it. Music has this funny thing about it, though, like it knows you better than you do. For a minute I forgot where I was and who I was with, and as I looked up to the star-studded sky and trees streamed with little lights, I smiled and moved with the music. That’s when he put his hands on my waist, pulling me a little closer, and I although we weren’t touching, my stomach twisted. Jake.

I caught Tyler’s eye and he grinned, but I took his hands off me as I shook my head.

He stopped moving. “Why?” He said mouthed.

I just kept shaking my head no, not knowing what to say. He stood their awkwardly, acting like he didn’t care when it was written all over his face that he did.

Then I saw the sweep of blue floral and blonde hair.

“Amy!” I cried. I turned away from Tyler and starting after her, pushing past people. I caught Tyler’s eye as I turned back, and I think he started after me, but I soon lost him in the crowd.

I followed Amy through until we finally emerged from the swarm out onto the empty part of the front lawn. Here there were no lights in trees or banners strung across the bricks of the school building, instead there were just cool, dark shadows. When we were finally alone she turned around to face me, and I could tell her eyes brimming with tears even in the low light.

“How could you?” At first it came out strong, but by the end it was soft and broken. She closed her eyes as a tear dripped down her cheek.

“Amy, please let me explain,” I stepped closer but she back away.

“New Wings, I can’t believe you, after we helped you out, showed you around the school, were your first friends here...” She trailed off, still not meeting my eyes.

“Amy, I wasn’t dancing with him, I –”

“Amy!”

Tyler came out of the crowd of people, jogging towards us in his uniform. He came right up beside her, never meeting my eye and rather looked right at her.

“Amy, I’ve been looking for you.” He reached his hand out, “I wanted a dance.”

At first she shook her head, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “Just go dance with New Wings.”

“Amy,” Tyler shook his head, “I was only with New Wings because I was looking for you. That’s what she was trying to tell you.”

He flashed that smile, and those golden bangs fell in his face again. There was moment of silence where I help my breath, before he slowly took her hand, and she let him lead her back towards the crowd, the same way he had just a few minutes before with me. He never looked back at me.

I watched them disappear, a bright red jersey and a sky blue dress eaten up by the black and navy of the crowd, with my head cocked, still trying to understand what had just happened.

Chapter 23 (post three)

Pre-note: I shouldn't be writing or blogging: I should be studying for my soc test. But nope, here I am, posting the next section.

SO HERE'S MY PROBLEM: I'm thinking my novel may be going a totally different way plot-wise than I expected. This may mean I'm going to keep writing, but there are things I want to change in past chapters in order to fit what I want to happen later on. So, if this occurs, and I keep posting on this blog, then I'm going to have to have "btw you as the reader are supposed to know this" sections before the chapter sections. Hopefully this doesn't have to occur too much and it isn't too complicated. 

Anyways, just written, here's the next section.

 Chapter twenty-three, section three:

Perhaps the funniest part is that I worked so hard for it, wanted it so badly, but days later it wouldn’t matter. It would be the last thing on my mind and the least important thing in a string of events. It would be nothing compared to other things, it would be nothing in the grand scheme of things.

But that day, it was all I could think of. It was the only thing on my mind when the boy’s school scored their first touch-down, it was the only thing pounding through my head with the cries and screams as the West End school won and everyone around me burst like fireworks. It was the only thing I cared deeply about. Looking back now, I can hardly understand why, and at the same time, I completely understand. Popularity was my main goal: to be liked, accepted, to follow the right crowd. As I waited for that night of the dance, it was if I was waiting a life-changing moment. And maybe it was, maybe being accepted back into Amy’s group or not was life-changing to me at that moment in time. But it wouldn’t be life-changing in the long run. It was just another fabricated desire, a distraction from the important things I wasn’t seeing.

Chapter 23 (post two)

Pre-note: This will be my last post for quite a while. The section that comes after this I still haven't written yet because I'm still not sure what's going to happen. And because I am so busy with school work, and feeling uninspired lately, I'm probably not going to get around to writing or posting again for a couple weeks. Not that anyone cares cause no one reads this, but whatever, I will stop being negative. This is the buildup to the football game and the dance.

Chapter twenty-three, section two:

I couldn’t concentrate on my hot chocolate. I tried to watch the way Jake’s bangs fell in his face, which typically would make my mind wipe blank, but instead I thought of the dance that night. I sighed again and glanced once more at my cell phone, sitting silently on the table. 10:31 am, only half an hour before I was meeting Lulu to get ready for the football game.

“You must have looked at the time ten times in the past five minutes,” Jake said, “Why are you nervous? It’s only a football game, right?”

I nodded, “But then there’s the dance after that...”

“Now don’t go fooling around with boys tonight,” Jake smiled, his eyes glimmering in that we-may-be-in-public-but-you-know-what-I-mean way.

I smiled, taking another sip of the hot chocolate and watching the stream of Saturday morning customers rush through the little coffee shop. They came in their black suits and high heels, with that confident upper-West walk and always with the right Sunrise purse.

“Hey,” Jake said, “What’s up?”

I was the worst liar ever; I never would have made it as an actor like I wanted to when I was five. But, I’d kept the whole Amy-thing secret for so long that biting my tongue almost seemed more like a habit than lying. I smiled, looked Jake in the eye, and said sweetly, “Nothing. It must be the fact I’ll be the only dateless girl at the dance tonight.”   

“Don’t stress about that,” he said, then whispered, “I’m really sorry.”

I shook my head and said softly, “It’s not your fault.”

The waitress came by to clear out dirty dishes, smiling a bit too much at Jake before heading back to the counter to serve another upper-West business lady. Something twisted inside me, but I almost laughed as I noticed Jake rolling his eyes.

“C’mon,” I said, “I can’t be late, me and Lulu need to get good seats.”

Chapter 23 (post one)

Pre-note: I feel like in this chapter I'm trying to figure out my own characters. However, the information at the end is something that the reader must know, so the section is staying although it will be edited so it flows better. 

Chapter twenty-three, section one:

“I want to know more,” I finally said, turning towards him.

“More about what?” Jake passed me half a sandwich, his other hand still in the picnic basket sitting in the pale white sand.

“You. I feel like I hardly know you.”

“You know more about me than most people do.”

“Your past, maybe, but I don’t even know about much about your past.”

Jake opened a can of pop, perhaps more violently than needed, before answering, “Let’s not talk about the past.”

“Ok...” I watched as the pop bubbled all over his hands. He just managed to get the can away from himself before it started dripping, leaving dark spots on the red blanket. Jake swore under his breath but I laughed, grabbing a napkin from the picnic basket.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling as he placed the can down in the sand and started wiping the stinky liquid off his hands. “What were we talking about again?”

“You were going to tell me more about yourself,” I smiled, taking a bite of cheese sandwich.

“What did you want to know?”

I swallowed. “Favourite colour?”

“Blue.”

“Favourite number?”

“Twenty-three.”

“Favourite food?”

“Sushi.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I tried it for the first time here in Soleres. It’s really interesting, nothing like the food I had growing up.”

“I was not expecting that,” I laughed.

“Well, that is my favourite food. Have you had it?” Jake asked, his pop halfway to his mouth.

“It was the only thing I’d buy from the cafeteria at my old school, so I basically lived off of sushi, even if it was the pre-packaged kind,” I responded before finishing my sandwich. I remembered the pale purple of my old cafeteria, the cheesy murals with the school motto and the school mascot, an otter.

I shook my head, bringing myself back into the present. I noticed Jake had been watching me, and with his head tilted, he asked, “Still thinking of the past?”

I nodded, biting my lip and wondering how he could read my mind.

Jake put his hand on my knee, saying: “Let’s not think of the past.”

He removed his hand and instead passed me a plastic-wrapped piece of banana bread.

“Why, though? Why is the past so bad?” I took the bread, letting it grow soft in my head as I watched Jake. His face went from smiling to expressionless, cold.

“The past is something you’re not supposed to remember.”

“But I do! And so do you.”

“Let’s not talk about it.”

“Why? I want to know more about your past.”

At this point Jake seemed to cringe a little. He looked away from me, watching the waves.

“New Wings, you know enough about my past.”

I put the banana bread down and moved a little closer to him on the blanket, until I could comfortably place my hand on his shoulder. He looked me when I touched him, his bottle green eyes shining with thought.

“Jake,” I said softly, “Why don’t you want to talk about it?” 

He took my hand off his shoulder and instead wrapped his hand around mine. He looked at our fingers intertwined as he said, “I don’t want to remember. I can, but I don’t want to...” he trailed off, then sighed. “It hurts too much.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

We sat in silence except for the waves steadily crashing on the shore and the occasional call of a seagull. My pastel blue nails rested in Jake’s strong hands. He kept watching them, our hands, like he was wishing he could never let go, or maybe that time would stop altogether. In the end he looked up at me, asked me something about school, and we drifted back into simple conversation until the sun set and the wind chilled and we realized I was going to be home late again.